Construction of 40th Avenue is expected to get underway in the coming weeks and be completed in October 2014.

Matt Durnan/Rocky View Publishing

Winter and construction are the two seasons that Canada experiences.

With the former seemingly wrapping up, the City prepares to kick off a number of capital construction projects this month.

Bob Neale, Airdrie Engineering Services team leader, updated council on April 7 on the status of a number of projects set to get underway, most of which are designed to assist with traffic flow and increase connectivity between communities.

The projects are all on or under budget said Neale when he spoke of the wealth of construction projects that will take place over the next six months.

The cost of the projects total nearly $20 million, which will come from the 2014 capital budget.

Many of the projects in the coming months will be on roadways, starting in the next few weeks with work on Yankee Valley Boulevard from East Lake Boulevard to Kings Heights Gate.

“We will be expanding this in to a four-lane divided road in order to allow for more traffic in and out of the southeast of the city,” said Neale.

The project is slated at $3.6 million and is projected to be completed in October of this year.

Early steps are being taken towards a new connection to Highway 2, with the construction of a new two-lane divided road (40th Avenue) between Eighth Street and Reynolds Gate.

“The City is currently evaluating contractors for this project and we expect it to be active in the next two to four weeks,” Neale said.

The $6.5-million project is slated for completion this October, while stage two, which will include a new connection to Highway 2 will be deliberated in the 2015 Airdrie budget.

Another new road is projected to be completed in August of this year; the $3.5-million construction of 40th Avenue, a two-lane road that will connect Eighth Street and Windsong Boulevard in the city’s southwest.

The Airdrie Parks department also has a capital construction project on the go with a pedestrian bridge underway to allow for walking traffic east and west of Main Street at Yankee Valley Boulevard.

Upgrades are continuing on roads in the west end of the city, as 24th Street is being expanded to a two-lane undivided roadway. The $6.9-million project is scheduled to be completed in July.

Alderman Allan Hunter raised some concerns to Neale about flooding on the road.

“I took a drive down that street and there was a lot of water on there,” said Hunter. “I had my truck in four wheel drive and was slipping around so I’m just wondering if that’s a problem that’s being looked at.”

Neale said that Engineering Services was aware of the issue and has been looking at solutions moving forward.

“A lot of the water on that road was caused by the amount of snow we had this year,” said Neale.

“We’re looking at putting in a snow fence in that area and also increasing the steepness at the shoulders.”

Other projects are still on target for time and cost, according to Neale, including a new $13-million reservoir pump house on 40th Avenue and Eighth Street that is slated to be finished in October 2015 and a transit terminal for local and ICE (Inter-City Express) buses, which should be finished this December at a cost of $2.2 million and will be located off Main Street, south of the Honda dealership.

Smaller projects such as watermain replacement and road rehabilitation on Second Avenue are on target to be completed in October at a cost of around $833,000.

New traffic signals will cost about $405,000 with the two main upgrades including a new left-turn signal at Yankee Valley Boulevard and Eighth Street, and a new traffic light at Yankee Valley Boulevard and Chinook Winds Drive, which Neale hopes to have completed before the 2014 - 2015 school year when the new W.H. Croxford high school opens.

Officials with CP Rail are looking to the public for help after it appears the arms on the Northridge Drive rail crossing were removed when they malfunctioned …

Comments

The Airdrie City View welcomes your opinions and comments. We do not allow personal attacks, offensive language or unsubstantiated allegations. We reserve the right to delete comments deemed inappropriate. We reserve the right to close the comments thread for stories that are deemed especially sensitive. For further information, please contact the editor or publisher.